George Galloway blasts the Senate

You are correct that support here for the IRA died with 9/11, however, it had already been trailing off rapidly for well over a decade by then. I'm fairly close to some Irish "cultural" groups here and that at least has been my experience. Things like the Manchester bombing and the attempt on the Tory party gathering did a great deal to darken popular views here about the IRA: there was a general recognition that revolutionary movements, extended over time, tend to produce a cadre of mindless killers who will continue without reason, and that at some point they must be cut off and let die.

I don't know where your figure of 30 or 40 thousand comes from. There are roughly 600 prisoners in Guantanamo.

Frankly I don't understand the resentment of Moslems for the U.S. Perhaps they see us as the contemporary embodiment of the British and the French, who have been their real oppressors. Of course the matter of Israel is a complication - but then who created that particular anomaly in Palestine? The difference is that unlike the French and other continental Europeans, we didn't ship our Jews off to extermination camps - they exist, and they have a political voice here, as they should. The most remarkable element of all this mess is the newfound piety of Europeans who somehow believe they have been born again and are free of their ghastly history.

The figure of 30 or 40 thousand detainees was JTTs not mine.

The Muslims dont like the US because of US interference in Muslim countries, primarily over oil, which they for some strange reason regard as theirs and not American.

Regarding Israel, I think we Brits dealt with it pretty even handedly, making mutually exclusive promises to both sides was about par for the course. It was after all the Balfour declaration that got the whole show on the road. And during WW1 we gave encouragement to the Arabs to fight the Turks. (Oh dear you're gonna tell me we were beastly to the Ottoman Empire again). After WW2 we just could not hold the line against the flood of immigration and Jewish terror gangs such as Stern and Irgun. So we left, and within 15 minutes of the establishment of the state of Israel, the US recognised it. That in my view was one of the biggest mistakes of the 20th Century. The wiser councils of Marshall and Forrestal were ignored.

[as an aside I think the 50+ year Isreal experiment has run its course, and should now be declared a failure, to be replaced by a bi-national secular state encompassing the whole area of the former Palestine, with citizens rights guaranteed by the UN]

Bold statement, Steve. Do they know where you live?

I generally agree with most of the above statement. I do fault the British for just abandoning the scene after 50 years of deliberate, selfish attempts at exploitation. I concede that Britain's capabilities were stretched very thin at that moment, and that perhaps they were driven by urgent necessity.

I also agree that our precipitous recognition of Israel may have been an incautious act. However there were other considerations as well. Recall the then current phrase "displaced persons", a euphemism for hundreds of thousands of European Jews who survived the war but who were displaced and cut off from their former homes - and usually not welcomed back in a still war ravaged Europe. This was hardly Europe's best moment, and it was the desperation of these people that created the nucleus and character of the new Israeli state, not the rather idealistic dreams of earlier Zionists.

Interestingly france was one of the principal supporters of Israel up until the Suez War. After that they changed course completely. It would be interesting to know why.

Apart from Saudi Arabia all of the oil producing states of the Middle east were heavily manipulated by the British Empire until the Suez fiasco. We got in to Iran only after the British left. Kuwait was a creation of the British. Bottom line it isn't quite fair you to accuse the U.S. of excessive manipulation of Middle east affairs - we are just following in your footsteps - and being a good deal less intrusive in the process.

I do agree that a secular state that could embrace the rights and aspirations of Jews and Palestinians alike is the best solution for Palestine/israel. Unfortunately that does not appear to be a possibility A two state solution that will define the rights and territories of the two peoples appears top be the best we can get - even that will be difficult.

My opinion is a bit different - althought your facts may better: France didn't change the attitude towards Israel until De Gaulle.
(French arm shipments, including fighter jets, missiles, and helicopters had formed the backbone of Israel's army in the nineteen-fifties and early sixties. In the 1967 war it was French Mirage fighters that had guaranteed Israeli air superiority, while on the ground French small arms equipped the IDF soldiers. )

Well, and De Gaulle overturned France's Israel policy because of ... he wanted to become a superpower as well, or similar.

George, you assign opinions to me and then accuse me of hypocrisy for having them

This is manifestly unfair. I protest.

Today, Rumsfeld indicated there is no better alternative to the detention center Guantanamo Bay, which he insisted was needed to detain terrorist suspects until the war on terror is over.

I hope, it won't last as long as the war on drugs.

Yes, but it's rumored the pilaf was ... cold.

American bastards!

I heard an interesting comparison today between Gitmo and the American public schools.

Apparently school is still in session in parts of NY & NJ, and it's stifling. It was suggested the schoolkids be sent to Guantanamo because it's air conditioned there and the quality of food (see menu above) is better than what's prepared in schools.

The suggestion was finally ruled out when it was noted that all religious practices are recognized, even encouraged, at Gitmo and everyone knows public school pupils could not be permitted in that kind of environment.

At that school, the professors piss on the kids, right? And beat some of them to death, I expect.

That was a funny joke article there.

piss on their holy books more like

and dinner is deep fried sh1t sandwich

On the other hand, since US-Americans don't have a great choice of places to visit in Cuba besides Gitmo ...

you have to be a pretty desperate tourist walter to book a fly drive holiday to Guantanamo Bay just to see a bit of cuba through the steel fencing.

We on the other hand can enjoy all the excellent hospitality that Fidel's island paradise offers

Actually Guantanamo is a fairly pleasant place. Good flying weather, great gym, nice O club - good times there over the years.

Such language!

You boys can't believe everything you read in your liberal rags. But then, as you have proven, anyone can believe most any crazy bit of fiction.

<<BTW, thanks for the entertainment ... ... it had been much too long since the local talent had been poked with a stick ... predictable responses, but entertaining just the same.>>

Now that could be a 5-star establishment if only it were on the other side of the island ... the side with the view of all the refugees attempting to raft to Miami.

Location, location, location.

Uh ..... no. In that school it's hot, the food sucks, & you can't pray.

It's called irony.

You stayed at the Guantanamo hotel George?

Did you take the trip to see the US naval base?